


Statues

by FanaticFangirl2602



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, But not really cuz it'll all be fiiiine, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, takes place during Sandboy, what's the Trollhunters timeline? WHO KNOWS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 23:12:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17375003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanaticFangirl2602/pseuds/FanaticFangirl2602
Summary: He sprints down the street, feet pounding against the pavement as he flees from acceptance. He turns a corner.It can’t be true, it can’t be true, it can’t be true, it can’t-He nearly falls when he sees her.





	Statues

**Author's Note:**

  * For [petitFantome](https://archiveofourown.org/users/petitFantome/gifts).



> I wrote this on my phone ages ago for my friend, and I'm finally getting around to posting it. Hooray!

He’s running. Running, running, running. Running from them. From the fear of what he’s seeing. From the loss if its true. 

Part of him remembers his family is back in Arcadia. Part of him knows they can’t possibly be here in Paris. But it’s drowned out by the shock, the  _grief,_ of the reality he sees.

He sprints down the street, feet pounding against the pavement as he flees from acceptance. He turns a corner.

It can’t be true, it can’t be true, it can’t be true, it can’t-

He nearly falls when he sees her.

The stop is so abrupt he stumbles. He stumbles, catches himself, hurriedly steps back. His heart stills in his chest.

Mere feet away from him is Ladybug.

She’s like all the others he’s seen. She’s made of stone, like a troll caught in the sun. Her eyes, normally full of mirth and light, are wide with unseeing fear from an enemy long gone. The yo-yo she wields is frozen in the air, as if unable to block what had been the final blow.

The final blow he should’ve been there for.

“No,” Jim whispers, horror struck. Fear grasps his heart. “No, no,  _no_ -“

_You should have stopped it,_  a traitorous part of his mind whispers. _You should have been there for her._

He doesn’t know what happened, part of him tries to reason, but it’s small and weak and drowned out by the sight of Ladybug frozen in stone. He doesn’t know what happened, but he knows enemies who are capable of this. Enemies he should have dealt with.

_You should have been there,_  his mind growls.

He's the Trollhunter. He protects trolls _and_ humans. He's supposed to stop stuff like this. But he didn't.

Maybe it’s because he’s seen so many people  _gone_  tonight. Maybe it’s because Toby, Claire, and his mother are also stone. Maybe it’s because the hero of Paris is standing before him, defeated.

Jim crumbles.

His hands catch him out of reflex before he can hit the cold ground. Blue eyes squeeze shut, trying to block out the sight, but it’s too late. Even with his eyes closed, it’s all he can see. Tears fall down his cheeks and onto the cobblestone below. Jim's struggling for air, his breath leaving him in the ragged heaves of a man trying not to break. He sucks in the cool night air like it can save him from this nightmare, but it can’t, it's  _can't,_  everyone is  _gone_ -

The sound of footsteps don’t register until it’s too late. A hand grabs his shoulder. Jim jerks back, hand flying to the amulet in his pajama’s pocket, because whoever did this is  _here_  and by Merlin, they won’t get away with it _._ Not as long as he's here.

Except when he looks up, a monster isn’t before him. Instead, it’s quite the opposite, and it’s so unexpected Jim feels all the air leave his lungs in one gasp.

Sapphire eyes stare at him from behind a mask, shining with worry. The red gloved hand that’d touched him pulls back slightly, giving him the space he needs. It doesn't go far though. It stays raised in the air, inches away from Jim, ready to catch him if he falls.

She always catches him.

“Are you okay?” Ladybug asks in concern, very much alive. She squats down next to him, continuing, “Don’t worry, it’s just-“

Jim lurches forward before she can say more. They nearly tumble to the ground, but he doesn’t care, because she’s ALIVE. She’s alive and breathing and the person he’s hugging isn’t made of stone.

Jim’s heart starts beating again.

Before the Parisian hero can fully register what’s happened, Jim pulls back, eyes still watery. He doesn’t let go of her just yet though, and keeps his hands on her shoulders.  _She’s not stone. She’s not gone._  The realization echoes over and over again, and his mind is almost too wary to accept it, but stone could never have hair that silky and lips that pink.

“You’re okay,” he breathes shakily, because it’s the only thing he knows how to say.

Ladybug reaches up and gently places one her hands over his. “I am,” she promises firmly. Her eyes scan him, protective and caring. “Are you?”

“I...” Jim takes a breath. Lets it out. Breathes in again. Doesn’t look away from the girl before him. If he does, maybe he’ll find out this isn’t real and the stone version behind him is. He can’t... he can’t have that. “Yeah, I am. Or, I will be,” he answers at last.

His lips pull down into a frown as his head clears, his rampaging emotions finally calming enough to allow his brain to think logically. If Ladybug is here, alive, then... why is there a stone version behind him? “What’s going on?” He asks, finally releasing his hold on her, shifting back to sit on his heels.

Ladybug glances behind him and her eyebrows pinch together behind her mask. She's looking at the stone version of herself, Jim knows. The heroine's gaze returns to him a moment later as she answers. “An akuma is making everyone’s nightmares come to life. Chat and I are on our way to stop him.” She doesn’t say anything about the statue.

The heroine stands and pulls her yo-yo from around her waist. “Get somewhere safe,” she orders him. “Remember, whatever you see...” The stone faces of his friends and family flash through Jim’s mind. "... it’s just a nightmare. It’ll be gone soon.”

She swings her yo-yo and she’s gone.

Jim watches her go and processes what she told him. The statues... they’re all nightmares. Ladybug is alive. His family is alive. His friends are alive. It's all fake.

He looks behind him at the stone version of Ladybug. It looks so real...

He sighs, shoulders slumping. “It’s not real,” he tells himself, shaking his head to clear it.

His mom is fine, Claire is fine, Toby is fine, the trolls are fine. They're okay.

It’s only later, after the akuma is defeated and the statues are all gone, does Jim realize Ladybug was included with the ones he cares about. What that means... Jim isn’t sure he’s ready to think about.

But one day he will be.


End file.
